


The X Files

by Zurela



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Keith does what we all wanted to do to iverson in the pilot, and together they investigated a garrison conspiracy theory?, basically what would have happened if keith hadn't been kicked out before the series started?, but he still met pidge and lance and hunk?, like blink and you miss it minor, very very very background klance towards the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-10-16 22:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10581072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zurela/pseuds/Zurela
Summary: Three of the most brilliant people at the Garrison were sent on a mission and didn't return. No one will say what happened. Keith, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk are the only ones willing to find the truth.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, I have no idea what to call this. It's about an alien conspiracy theory. I haven't even seen the X Files. I'm sorry this has a terrible, terrible title, that may or may not change.
> 
> While we're on the apology train, I'm sorry I haven't posted in forever (school is kicking my butt right now), and I'm sorry if this chapter is dumb and incoherent. I wrote it while I was pretty gross and exhausted.
> 
> If you think I should stop apologizing because you're excited about this existing, you can thank [ouranose](http://ouranose.tumblr.com/) on tumblr for that one. Thanks for the request! I'm exicted to see where this goes (because I have no idea yet).

_”ENTIRE CREW LOST IN KERBEROS MISSION DISASTER”_

The announcement came on a Tuesday morning. Somewhere, on the other side of the galaxy, three of the greatest minds from the Garrison were suddenly gone.

Everyone took the news hard, but Keith was particularly upset. He had never had many friends at the Garrison, and wasn’t looking forward to losing Shiro for the short period that he would be gone. But now…

He completely fell apart. He stopped going to classes, started crashing easy simulations, and picked fights with his other team members frequently. Most of the professors knew that Keith had been close with Shiro, and were reluctant to discipline one of their best students. Losing someone close was hard, but everyone assumed he would move on eventually and return to his normal self.

A few months after the news broke, their hopes seem to come true as the shock wore off. Keith’s temper seemed to dim, and though he lacked his usual spirit, he was no longer unstable. This came as a huge relief to the Garrison staff, as they worried they would have to intervene soon. Now, though, they looked forward to the return of their top pilot.

Grief is difficult, though.

Keith went through the typical five stages of grief; refusal to acknowledge the news, anger and fits of violence, wishing it had been him on the mission instead, becoming withdrawn and sad. It was hard to see, but eventually acceptance would come as well, and the sting of loss would fade.

Unfortunately for the Garrison staff, Keith was far more perceptive than people gave him credit for. While he had been hailed as a brilliant pilot, he hadn’t been known for his patience and problem-solving skills. Though no one could deny that he was stubborn, especially over things he cared about.

He cared about Shiro a lot.

Once the disorienting fog had phased out of his head, Keith began to think more about what exactly had happened. The Kerberos mission had consisted of two great scientists and a legendary pilot. Despite his skills, the accident had been attributed to pilot error. There was no evidence of a crash, and every news story said no further details would be released.

Wouldn’t they have some point of contact with the ship? Video footage, radio transmissions reporting some sort of error or malfunction? The lack of details and coherence were suspicious, but no one else spoke up out of fear of disrespecting the deceased.

Keith was never great with respect.

He began asking questions, refusing to take no for an answer. Do you know what happened before the accident? Was there a flaw with the ship you provided? Did they try to contact you beforehand? Where did the accident happen? Why did this happen?

The answer was always the same: “I don’t know.”  
_

“You said yourself that Shiro was the best pilot to ever walk these halls. What happened to that, huh?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, cadet. Accidents happen.” The officer walked away briskly, but Keith was hot on his heels.

“That’s not an excuse!” Keith growled. “Accidents happen when something causes it, but no one will say what caused it.”

“Watch your mouth, cadet. That’s no way to speak to your superiors.”

“I’ll respect you when you respect me and the other pilots here! You’re doing a disservice to Shiro’s memory.”

The officer whirled to glare at Keith. “That’s enough, Kogane,” he bit.

Keith crossed his arms and glared down at his feet. He always pushed too hard.

“Now, I know you’re upset that you lost your friend, but that is no excuse to harass your officers. We’ve made it abundantly clear by now that we cannot disclose what happ-”

Keith perked up and looked up. “What?”

The officer scowled. “This needs to stop, or you will be disciplined.”

“No,” Keith interrupted. “You said you can’t say what happened. All this time you’ve been telling me you don’t know, but you just said you _can’t say_. So you do know what happened?”

The officer froze. “No, that is not-”

“Why are you hiding this? Was the Garrison at fault?”

“That is _enough_ , cadet! No matter the circumstances, this issue does not concern you. Do not bring this up again, or you will face punishment. Understood?”

The officer began to retreat once more. Keith still followed. “No, I don’t understand!”

“This conversation is _over_.” With that, a door was slammed in Keith’s face.  
_

This was getting ridiculous. The Garrison was hiding something, Keith was sure of it. The conversation with the officer just now made that more clear than ever. So how could he find out the truth? Asking was getting him nowhere, but what else could he do?

Keith marched back to his room, lost in thought over the argument he had just had. Something was suspicious about this whole situation, and the cover story-

“-makes no sense! A renown pilot, and two brilliant scientists? I know you’re not telling us the truth, and I’m gonna figure it out one way or another!”

Keith poked his head around the corner to see a short cadet arguing with another officer that Keith had been questioning last week. Probably not a pilot, as Keith didn’t recognize him.

The officer leaned down to meet his eyes. “I don’t care what you believe, cadet. Breaking into authorized computers is unacceptable, and if you are caught trying to access confidential information again, you will be expelled. Understood?”

The officer prevented any further argument by turning and walking away, leaving the shorter cadet fuming and storming off. He made his way towards the hall that Keith was hiding in, but before he could walk away, Keith grabbed his arm.

“Hey, I heard you arguing with that officer.”

Bright gold eyes met his in a cold glare. “Yeah, so, what’s it to you?”

Keith huffed. “So, I was a...friend of Shiro’s, and I know there’s no way he would crash that ship. I don’t know who you are or why you care, but I think we’re both on the same side here. Something isn’t right, and I’m trying to find out what.”

The cadet looked him over, as if finally bothering to fully acknowledge him, before grabbing his arm and pulling him into a nearby storage room.

“Look,” he whispered, “if this is a prank, I’m not in the mood.”

“This isn’t a prank,” Keith reassured. “I’ve been bugging the staff here for weeks, and no one will give me any answers. Someone just told me today that they _can’t_ say what’s going on. Whatever happened, they’re hiding something, and I can’t figure out what it is on my own.”

The cadet kept their mouth shut, still glaring, but not yet leaving. Keith sighed.

“Look, my name is Keith. Shiro was my best friend, and I’ve known him for years. I can’t just...accept what they’re telling me. I know he wouldn’t make a mistake. I’m offering my help here. Take it or leave it. Either way, I’m not letting this go.”

Finally, a sigh and a shrug. “Fine. I’m...Pidge. Let’s just say I was very close with Matt and Sam Holt.”

“Okay, Pidge, what’s the plan?”

Pidge huffed. “Well, I’ve been trying to hack into their computers to look for records of radio transmissions or something, but I got caught.”

Keith hummed. “And asking is clearly getting us nowhere. We have to find a way to do this without them noticing us. They already know we’re on their cases, and it sounds like both of us aren’t far from getting into some real trouble.”

“Well,” Pidge began, “I _do_ know some people who might be able to help us out.”

“No way,” Keith argued. “I work alone.”

“What about me?”

“Well, I know we’re working towards the same thing. No outsiders.”

Pidge rolled his eyes. “Look, edgelord, I get that you have the whole loner thing going for you, but it hasn’t exactly gotten you that far. If we really want to find out what’s going on, you need to swallow your pride and accept help when it’s offered.”

“That’s not-!”

“Whatever. Look, I was trying to keep these guys out of it because it’s not really their fight, but even I know we’re out of other options. If you wanna get something done you gotta do it right.”

Keith sighed. “Fine. Who are these guys, and how do you know we can trust them?”

Pidge grinned. “Lance and Hunk, the other members of my crew. They might not look like much, but they can help us out a lot.”

“How so?”

“Well first, there’s Hunk. He’s a brilliant engineer, and he knows the Garrison backwards and forwards. Knows every hall, every room, every officer. His instincts are rock solid, so he knows who we can trust around here and who we can’t. Plus, he’s a total ray of sunshine, and a nervous one at that. No one will ever suspect him of helping us.”

“Okay, and what about the other? Lance?”

Pidge rolled his eyes. “Lance is a total pain in the butt, but it works for him. If you want to divert attention away from yourself, you want him around. I can’t even count how many times I’ve started mouthing off to Iverson, only to have him turn it on himself and take the beating for me. He would take a bullet for anyone he trusts.”

“And how do we know these guys will trust us?”

Pidge laughed. “They’re two of the nicest people in the world. They wanted to try and be my friend within a minute of meeting me. Trust me, I know they’ll help us out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda boring because it's all set up. No fear! Lance and Hunk will be here soon and the true Garrison shenanigans will begin. If you think the Garrison trio is great, get ready for the Garrison...quartet? Doesn't have the same ring to it.
> 
> Regardless! I have the next chapter of this already in the works but I'm also working on a few other things at the moment, so who knows which of those will come up next, or when. Maybe by later tonight? Who knows? I sure don't.
> 
> Anyways, this was a cool request from my cool friend and it was too cool not to write. If you have any requests or also think this idea is cool, [come let me know on my tumblr!](https://zurela.tumblr.com/) I love screaming about this show. It's pretty cool.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, I didn't abandon this thing? Yuppp, I've had about half of this written for weeks and finally found the inspiration to keep going. Hopefully updates are faster from here?

“There’s no way I’m helping you out with this.”

Pidge crossed his arms. “Come _on_ , Lance! Please? This is really important to me!”

Lance shook his head. “Look, Pidge, you’re a cool guy and all, and I’m willing to help you out when you piss off Iverson, but infiltrating the Garrison for some conspiracy? Nope. No way. Not looking to get expelled, thank you very much.”

Pidge turned to Hunk. “Hunk? Please?”

Hunk looked uneasy. “Look, I gotta agree with Lance on this one. This is way too dangerous. And what if we get caught?”

Keith sighed, leaning against the doorway of the dorm Pidge brought him to. “I knew this was a bad idea. I’m out of here.”

“Wait!” Pidge called. “Don’t go, please. I know we can work this out.”

“I doubt it,” Keith argued. “Look, these guys clearly don’t want to help, and if I’m being honest, I don’t really think it would be needed anyways.”

“Oh yeah, and what’s that supposed to mean?” the taller one, Lance, responded. “You think you’re so great? Just because everyone says you’re a good pilot, you can just handle everything on your own?”

“What? I never said that. I just don’t see how _you_ could possibly help me out.”

“You wanna go?”

“Come on,” Hunk interrupted. “It’s not worth it, Lance. If he wants to leave, let him.”

“Stop arguing!” Pidge cried. “We’re supposed to work together!”

“Why?” Lance countered. “This guy can clearly handle this on his own. He doesn’t need our help.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” Keith growled.

“Please,” Pidge interrupted, voice breaking. “I just want to find my family. Please.”

The room fell silent.

Keith was the first to break it. “What are you talking about?”

Pidge sighed. “My name...isn’t Pidge. It’s Katie. Katie Holt. Matt Holt is my brother, and Samuel Holt is my dad. They...I can’t accept that they’re dead, not like this. The Garrison is covering something up here, and I need to know what it is. I got caught trying to break into their computers before, so I disguised myself as a boy and enrolled here to get closer. I...I’m sorry I lied to you, I didn’t want to complicate things, but now I just want to find my family. You guys are the only hope I have. Please.”

Keith and Hunk looked away, mulling it over, but Lance grasped Pidge on the shoulder immediately. Pidge looked up, tears threatening to spill over her eyelids, to see Lance smiling down at her warmly.

“I’m in.”

“You are?” Pidge gasped.

“Of course I am. Why didn’t you tell us? You can trust me. I’ll even try to get along with Keith.”

Pidge laughed and sniffed before she and Lance both turned to Hunk with an expectant look.

“What?” Hunk asked, instinctively taking a step back.

“Huu~unk,” Lance singsonged. “Come on, buddy, you know you wanna help too!”

“But-”

“Oh come on, Hunk, please? It’s for my family,” Pidge begged, putting on her best puppy dog face.

“You can’t deny your friend who just wants to find their family, can you, Hunk?” Lance continued.

Hunk sighed before burying his face into his hands. “Alright, fine, you win. I’m in too.”

“Yes!” Pidge and Lance cried in unison, before they both tackled Hunk in a giant hug.

Finally, the three of them turned to Keith with a shared knowing look. Keith sighed. “Alright, fine.”  
_

THE CONSPIRACY SQUAD 

PIDGE- THE HACKER  
_Strengths: Hacking into locked computers, uncovering confidential documents  
Weaknesses: Willing to sacrifice a good hiding spot for the sake of being petty_

KEITH- THE REBEL  
_Strengths: Sneaking around, eavesdropping, breaking into locked offices  
Weaknesses: Will fight anyone the second they undermine him_

HUNK- THE INSIDER  
_Strengths: Inside intelligence, new leads, knows all the hidden passageways  
Weaknesses: Terrible at sneaking. Just the worst at it._

LANCE- THE PEACEKEEPER  
_Strengths: Diverting negative attention, alleviating suspicion. Perfect memory of all staff schedules? Why do you know this, Lance?_  
_Weaknesses: Sometimes a little_ too _good at attracting attention_  
_

“Okay,” Pidge announced to the room, the four of them sitting in a circle on Lance and Hunk’s dorm room floor. “What do we know so far?”

“Shiro, Matt, and Sam are all gone,” Keith began. “There was no radio or video footage of the incident, and any mention of it is really vague.”

Pidge nodded. “When you and I have cornered any of the staff about this, they totally shut down. They don’t even really tell us that we’re wrong. They just tell us to be quiet.”

“There haven’t been any other expeditions, either,” Hunk chimed in. “Like, I get it, Kerberos was the biggest mission yet from the Garrison, and no matter what _really_ happened, it obviously didn’t go as planned. It’s normal that they wouldn’t want to try that again anytime soon. But...nothing?”

Keith nodded. “I’m sure the Garrison took a hit after Kerberos. A lot more safety tests, donors pulling away. I wouldn’t call that unusual.”

“But that’s why it _is_ unusual,” Hunk argued. “Even with all of that, this school is still devoted to training space travellers, and it doesn’t...feel like that anymore. Sure, we still do simulations and go to class, but there’s no talk of working hard to make sure this doesn’t happen again. It’s almost like...it’s not that the accident is stopping this place from expanding or continuing its missions. It feels like they’re the ones stopping it.”

“So, what then?” Pidge asked. “They don’t even want to start new missions? This school is devoted to that exact thing, Hunk. One incident won’t just put that to an end.”

Hunk crossed his arms. “But it did, and that’s my point.”

“They’re so...quiet,” Lance piped up.

Keith rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we got that part. They won’t tell me or Pidge anything.”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Lance continued. “Sure, they won’t tell a few pushy students about it. That’s sketchy, given your relationships with the victims, but it’s not totally out of the ordinary. But they didn’t even really talk about it to the public, you know? According to their story, three people died. Two of them were barely past being teenagers. That’s not something you can just brush under the rug. If you want to ever succeed as a school again, and get the best and brightest to come here, you need to talk about it. Reassure the public. Show people that the loss was hard and tragic, that all safety measures were taken, describe what happened, show people that it won’t happen again and that this was a terrible accident.”

Hunk nodded. “The whole thing felt so...cold.”

Keith looked away. “I never even noticed. I was dealing with my own stuff.”

Lance nodded. “I get that, so it’s not surprising that neither of you noticed. But everyone cares when someone dies like this. If you heard on the news that three people were killed on this space program, and the school didn’t even really seem to show any concern about it, would you send your kid there? Accidents happen, everyone knows that. And the Garrison could have made sure people knew that, but they didn’t. They’re making themselves look really bad.”

Pidge looked at the floor, face screwed up in concentration. “Okay, so here’s what we know. The Garrison has completely covered this up. There are no details from the accident, or any evidence supporting their story. They won’t tell anything to the families of the victims, the students, or the public. The school hasn’t done any work, as far as we know, to emphasize their safety measures, promote recruitment, or plan new missions.”

“If they haven’t been doing any of that...what are they doing?” Hunk asked.

“Aside from making sure we all stay in line and don’t ask questions?” Lance commented. “Not much, apparently.”

Keith frowned. “This might be bigger than we thought. I thought they were just trying to stay out of sight, but it’s _too_ out of sight. This place has gone totally silent.”

Pidge snorted. “Heck, for all we know, they could all still be alive.”

Lance chuckled at that. “Yup, Pidge, I bet they got abducted by aliens. You got any nerd stuff to talk to the aliens with?”

“That’s what happened to all the evidence!” Hunk joined in. “It was a bunch of alien sounds. They’re concealing it for the safety of Earth, so the aliens don’t come take over.”

Keith remained suspiciously quiet.

Lance rolled his eyes. “Come on dude, we’re just joking around. We’re not trying to disresp-”

“That’s it,” Keith interrupted.

“What?” Pidge asked.

“That’s what happened. It was aliens.”

The room fell into total silence, which was quickly broken by three voices breaking into hysterical laughter.

Lance wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. “And here I thought you weren’t funny, mullet man.”

Keith’s cool exterior didn’t crack in the slightest. “I’m serious, guys! Think about it. There was apparently no radio or video evidence. If the Garrison says it was pilot error, that would be the first thing they release in order to prove they weren’t at fault. What could have been on there?”

Hunk chuckled. “Alright, Keith, it was aliens. Are they coming to Earth next? Are we all going to get abducted?”

“That’s why they went quiet,” Pidge added solemnly, voice tinged with amazement. “That’s why there’s no new expeditions. They don’t _want_ to go back out there.”

“Come on, Pidge,” Lance whined. “Not you too!”

Hunk hummed, looking quizzical. “So they didn’t want to draw anything in from out there? Whatever it was...it would have come here. If they discovered life on another planet, it would have been a huge deal. Even with the accident, there would be a new expedition immediately. This was something dangerous.”

“Hunk, my man,” Lance begged, gripping Hunk’s arm. “You can’t be serious.”

Hunk eyed him from the side, not budging under Lance’s pull. “Hey, dude, you’re the one that believes in mermaids.”

Lance sputtered and jumped up to look down at the others. “I- pssh, I- What does that even matter? This is _aliens_ we’re talking about here! Even if they do exist, there’s no way they would have been _here_. You guys can’t honestly tell me you believe that, right?”

Three blank expressions stared back up at him.

Lance sighed and fell back to the floor. “Alright, fine, so I guess we’re just going with _aliens_ , then. Now what?”

Pidge sighed. “We need to figure out what they saw out there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry but the conspiracy squad stuff is objectively the best stuff I've ever written. Emotional bonding moments? Tragic breakdowns? Get that out of here, because I'm hilarious.
> 
> And, as always, I have a [pretty cool tumblr](https://zurela.tumblr.com/) that you should all check out, and send me prompts if you want! I'm sort of starved for ideas right now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forming a team doesn't mean things are smooth sailing from there. Especially when _one_ teammate decides to go and get himself expelled.

Breaking into a school’s secure database for secret information about aliens while being constantly watched was, understandably, not an easy task. Fortunately, these kids were not ones to give up so easily.

The four of them frequently met up in the middle of the night to try and break into offices, to the point that it became almost routine. 

_Be in Lance and Hunk’s room by 11 pm. Keith tells them who the target is, what they’re looking for. Hunk shows them the route. Pidge takes care of the security cameras._

Lance would lead, pausing every once in awhile to pull the others into nearby halls to hide from any suspicious noises. Hunk followed on his heels, directing him on where to go. Pidge surveyed the area for anything nearby that could potentialy expose them. Keith took up the rear to make sure they weren’t followed.

It worked for them, but even though it became routine, that in no way means they were successful.

“This is too much,” Hunk announced one night after another failed search through an officer’s files. “We can’t keep doing this every night. None of us are getting sleep, and people are going to start noticing.”

“We haven’t been caught yet!” Keith argued, though the bags under his eyes were evident even in the dim light of the dorm.

“ _Yet_ being the operative word here, Keith,” Lance scoffed. His teasing jokes had begun to cut deeper, and his usual brightness seemed to have dimmed. “I’m with Hunk here. We can’t keep this up, and my skin looks horrible.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “You would back out just for your beauty routine. I don’t know why I expected anything else.”

Lance stepped forward to get into Keith’s face. “What, are you calling me selfish? You aren’t exactly looking so great either, hotshot! If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were a corpse.”

Keith growled, not backing down. “It doesn’t matter how I _look_ , Lance. I’m trying to get things done, here.”

Hunk stepped in and pushed them apart. “Come on, guys, this isn’t solving anything. Let’s just go to bed and reconvene tomorrow.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “For another failed attempt? You guys clearly don’t want to be part of this. Wouldn’t wanna ruin your golden reputation, right Hunk?”

Lance stepped in front of Hunk and pushed a hand against Keith’s chest. “Hey, don’t you dare talk to Hunk that way,” he growled, low and serious.

Keith glared right back, but didn’t say anything, letting the room fall into a tense silence.

Pidge fell to the ground with a thump, startling the others. Hunk ran over to help her, but she remained collapsed on the floor, staring vacantly at the floor below her.

“Pidge?” Hunk asked meekly. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head, face still empty of all emotion. Keith and Lance had backed away from each other, turning instead to focus on Pidge.

“I just…” she started, cutting herself off to bite at her lip. “I want them back so badly. I know...I know that wanting it won’t change anything. They could really be dead. I’m doing everything I can and it could _still_ be for nothing.”

Lance and Keith looked at each other quizzically, and Lance stepped away to meet Pidge on the other side of the room, grabbing a blanket from his bed along the way. He plopped to the floor beside her, looping an arm around her back and wrapping the blanket around both of them. Pidge fell back and let her head fall against Lance’s shoulder, though her blank stare remained plastered on her face in an empty mask.

“I’m sorry,” Lance whispered. “I’m so sorry this is happening.”

Hunk followed Lance to sit behind both of them, letting them rest against his torso. “Me too. It’ll be okay, though.”

Tears began to stream down her cheeks, though it seemed Pidge didn’t even notice. “What am I supposed to do? My mom is heartbroken. I’m running around here trying to do the impossible, with a fake name and fake identity. Now I’ve dragged you guys into it, and we’re all suffering.”

Finally, her face scrunched up, and she pounded a fist against the ground. “And for what?! They’re probably just dead! This whole thing is my own way of refusing to deal with it. What were we thinking? I can’t...I don’t know what to do anymore. We all look suspicious, we’re exhausted, we have no leads, no information, nothing. I have nothing anymore. I just...I just _don’t know what to do_.”

She choked on a sob, and it only took Lance pulling her into a hug to break the dam, muffling sobs against his chest. He just pulled her tighter, rubbing his hands along her back, and Hunk pulled the two of them against him and began running his hands through her hair.

Keith, having been silent and distant the whole time, finally joined them on the floor. He sat directly in front of Pidge, pulling her up to look at him directly.

“Pidge. _Katie_. This is...honestly, it’s horrible. I hate it here. I hate sneaking around, I hate lying, I don’t even enjoy flying anymore. All I want is for Shiro to be here, and for all I know, he never will be again.”

Pidge let her head fall down, slumping against Lance once more. She pulled her knees up and buried her face in her arms, shutting out the world around her.

“But,” Keith continued, “even though this is miserable, and I know that Shiro very well could be gone, I can’t just give up. Not even if I wanted to, you know? Because even with all of this going on, and the Garrison breathing down our throats...I know Shiro. And I know he had faith in me. He saved me, and now it’s my turn. If it’s...if you can’t do this anymore, I understand. But I’m not giving up.”

Keith sat there quietly, but Pidge didn’t budge from her curled up position. Lance glanced up and gave Keith an apologetic look and a shrug. Keith nodded before standing up and heading for the door. Before he could pull it open, however, Pidge lifted her head and wiped at her eyes.

“Hey Keith?”

Keith turned around, arm not yet falling from the door. “Yeah?”

Pidge smiled. “These stuffy officers are gonna be so pissed when we figure this out.”

Keith smiled. “I can’t wait for that day.”  
_

So the mission was back on, and things became a little less tense. Remembering their goal, understanding that they couldn’t give up, and the sort of companionship that came with collectively trying to defy an entire school’s worth of shady officers brought them closer together. The others were better able at recognizing when Pidge was starting to break down, and learned how to bring her back before she went over the edge. Hunk’s hesitance to participate seemed to lessen. Even Lance and Keith weren’t fighting as much.

That didn’t mean their job became easier. With each passing day, it seemed the gaze of each professor lingered even longer than the last. Sleep was harder and harder to come by, and when it did, it was filled with stress-induced nightmares. 

Pidge became increasingly fidgety, worried that someday someone would see through her disguise and ruin her plans completely. Keith felt the pressure of his officers as they waited for their prodigy to return to his normal self. Lance became paranoid, the constant attention that came with keeping everyone focused on his antics driving him to doubt himself and those around him. Hunk could barely swallow the guilt that came with spying on those around him, manipulating others for information, lying through his teeth day by day.

The Garrison staff didn’t make it any easier. While some seemed relieved that Keith and Pidge had stopped their interrogations, others weren’t convinced by the act, and a select few were just outwardly mean.

Unfortunately for Keith, he didn’t deal well with those types.

Looking back, he can’t seem to convince himself there was a good reason for what he did. Sure, Iverson deserved it, but not for the sake of his mission. It boiled down to stress, lack of sleep, and Iverson’s exceptional talent at getting under people’s skin.

In Keith’s defense, he hadn’t even been doing anything wrong! They had checked Iverson’s computer weeks before, and Keith didn’t want to deal with their arguments anymore.

Apparently, Iverson found some sort of sick joy in harassing his students.

“Where are you off to in such a rush, Kogane?”

Keith spun around to see Iverson standing before him, a smug smile spread across his face.

He fought off every urge to roll his eyes. “Just back to my dorm, _sir_. My simulation is finished today and I want to go to sleep.”

“Oh, is that so?” Iverson continued to prod, clearly not letting this conversation end so easily. “You have been looking tired lately. I hope nothing is keeping you awake, cadet. Wouldn’t want one of my best pilots not to be in top shape.”

Keith huffed and crossed his arms, abandoning any remaining hope of sneaking away. “No, sir. Just haven’t been sleeping well.”

“Ahh, yes,” Iverson agreed. “Makes a lot of sense. Not sleeping well, not flying well, becoming reckless, disrespecting your superior officers. We let it slide since we expect such great things from you, Kogane. But eventually, you become a weak link.”

Keith clenched his fists, fighting off his every instinct. “Won’t be a problem. I just need a little more time.”

“I would hope so. Then again, I somehow don’t know if I believe you. Since Shirogane seemed to be the only one who could keep you in line, I wonder if you’ll ever be the promising young pilot you once were.”

Keith gritted his teeth. “I don’t need Shiro here to-”

“Of course, I would never suggest such a thing. Your skill level speaks for itself. Not exactly something you can fake, no?”

“No, sir,” Keith agreed with a curt shake of the head.

“Well, I thought so too. With Shirogane dead, though, I start to wonder. He always seemed like the best pilot around here, then went and crashed the ship on his first mission. Not much of a prodigy if you ask me- _oof_!”

Before Iverson could continue his tirade against Shiro, he was interrupted by Keith’s fist meeting his face. Iverson doubled over, gripping his jaw, which gave Keith the perfect angle to spit directly into his eyes.

“With all due respect, _sir_? Get bent.”  
_

“Hey, Keith, no playing Mission Impossible tonight,” Lance called casually as he strutted into Keith’s dorm. “Hunk has an exam tomorrow and wants a decent night’s sleep- what are you doing?”

Keith was hunched over his bed, his few belongings stuffed into a duffel bag that sat atop the now cleared mattress. “Well, I- uh.”

“Are you ditching?” Lance asked in exasperation.

“No!” Keith assured. “I would never do that! I got…expelled.”

“What?!”

Keith looked sheepishly down to the floor and tried to occupy himself packing. “Yeah, I, uh...look, it doesn’t matter, alright?”

Lance wouldn’t be so easily brushed off, though. He sidled up next to Keith’s bed, a sly grin spread wide across his face. “Keeeeeeeith…..”

Keith continued to ignore him, but a deep red blush filled his face. “Leave it alone, Lance.”

“Come on, what did you do?”

“Nothing!”

“You know when you say that I’m just gonna start guessing.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Fine, go ahead. I don’t care.”

Lance’s grin somehow grew impossibly wider. “You...pranked the headmaster.”

“No.”

Lance nodded knowingly. “Yeah, you’re too much of a stick in the mud for that one. I, on the other hand…”

“Don’t get any ideas. Next.”

Lance smirked. “Oh, I thought you wanted me to leave you alone?”

Keith sighed and turned to sit on the empty bed. “I did, but I know you won’t, so. What else you got?”

Lance stroked his chin in thought. “They realized you’ll never live up to my mad skills and decided to just get ahead of the game and kick you out?”

Keith shook his head.

Lance nodded. “They’ll get there someday. Did you...do what we’ve all wanted to do for years and tell off Iverson?”

Keith said nothing.

Lance’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “No. No no no you _didn’t_!”

Keith blushed again, painting his face all the way to his ears a deep red. “It’s not a big deal.”

Lance sputtered and rushed forward to grip Keith’s shoulders. “This is...Keith. This is the biggest deal in the history of the world.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Can we just let it go? I’ll be out of your way, so I’m sure you’re thrilled. I didn’t _want_ to get kicked out, you know. I wanted to…” He trailed off, looking to the framed photo of him and Shiro in their uniforms on Keith’s first day at the Garrison, one of the few personal possessions he kept in his dorms. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter now.”

Lance stepped back and looked Keith over. “You don’t...do you think I’ve wanted you gone?”

Keith scoffed and stared at his feet. “Well, yeah, you made that pretty clear.”

“Keith, no…” Lance began, “I don’t hate you or anything. I just want to be beat you!”

Keith looked up at Lance quizzically. “What?”

Lance nodded and put his hands on his hips. “Everyone always talks about how great you are! Even when you were pulling this whole mopey angsty thing and pissing everyone off, all the officers were just sitting around waiting for their beloved Keith to return. Meanwhile, I’m over here working my butt off just to get promoted from cargo and all I hear is how great you are.”

Keith stared in awe as Lance continued his tirade. That’s what all of that had been about?

“But yeah, dude, I don’t hate you or anything. When it comes down to it, you’re...not a bad person. You clearly care about getting Shiro back, which I can respect.”

Keith sighed and let his head fall into his hands, elbows braced against his legs. “Yeah, well, nothing to do about it now, all because I couldn’t just grit my teeth.”

Lance sat on the floor and pulled his knees up, letting his elbows fall loosely onto his knees. “Yeah, what happened there? I mean, I know Iverson is a jerk and totally deserved it, but why now? We were all trying so hard to stay under the radar.”

Keith sighed and hid his face between his arms. “He was talking about Shiro.”

“Oh?”

“How it was...his fault. Like he deserved it.”

“ _Oh_.”

“Yeah. So I punched him in the face.”

Lance gasped and leapt backwards. “You did what?”

Keith tried to keep his face blank, but couldn’t fight off a sheepish smile. “Yeah. Decked him in the jaw and then spit in his face. Told him to get bent. It didn’t take long to get booted after that.”

“Keith,” Lance said in awe, a dazed look across his face as he slowly moved to kneel in front of Keith and grab his legs.

Keith rose to meet his eyes. “Yeah?”

“You are my fucking hero.”  
_

While losing a team member inside the Garrison threw off their plans significantly, Keith’s expulsion didn’t stop them from continuing their investigation. Pidge, Lance, and Hunk had to maintain a lower profile than ever after Keith’s stunt. As for Keith, he kept close by and stayed hidden in a shack in the desert.

While their investigations continued within the Garrison, Keith’s shack provided a good place to keep track of any leads, while also letting Keith investigate on his own outside of the Garrison.

They had a plan, sure, but not much else. New leads were hard to come by. The staff seemed more relaxed with Keith gone, as if the whole issue could be brushed under the rug. It began to seem like there may be no hope for an answer.

Until Keith picks up on some strange signals coming from somewhere in the desert.

Until Pidge climbs onto the roof one night, searching for signals coming from space.

Until an alarm sounds throughout the halls of the Garrison.

Until a mysterious ship crashes down, and everything changes.  
_

_”THREE STUDENTS DECLARED MISSING AFTER CRASH AT GALAXY GARRISON”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time coming for this one, so it's extra long! I would say that was intentional, but I mostly just got on a roll and this wasn't quite enough to split into two different chapters. But! Hopefully that's exciting either way! I've been a little lacking in time and motivation lately, but I will never abandon this. I _will_ continue to not edit the things I write, though. I'll get there someday -_-
> 
> Have I mentioned yet that [I'm on tumblr](https://zurela.tumblr.com/)? I think I have. I _know_ I have. Go there and harass me! The more feedback I get, the more I know what you guys wanna see :)
> 
> That's all for now, then! One or two more chapters of this, depending on how deep down the rabbit hole I go with this last part. Which, I promise you wanna stick around for that. If you think Iverson getting punched and spit on was good, wait until you see what these guys have to say to him when they come back, _with_ Shiro, _with_ aliens, _with_ giant robotic lions. Kicking ass across the universe, singlehandedly ending an intergalactic war.
> 
> Eat shit, Iverson.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return to Earth.

The story, from here, is a familiar one. A magical space lion, a mysterious alien princess, and an ancient intergalactic war. The Garrison, along with its many secrets, is left behind, and perhaps no one will ever know what truly happened.

But if anything can be said of the paladins of Voltron, it’s that they are stubborn. They’re strong, and they fight tooth and nail to accomplish their goals, even when the odds seemed stacked against them.

So the odds that these five will someday return to Earth in a blaze of glory and show Iverson and the rest of the shady Garrison staff how wrong they were? Not likely.

But, well, odds were never that important anyways.  
_

_Eight years later._  
_

The war has been long and hard-fought, but finally Voltron has gained an edge. They have more allies than ever before, a significant number of Galra-controlled planets have been freed, and victory feels closer than ever.

But war is a dirty thing, and numbers aren’t everything.

Both sides had followed each other across the universe, almost in a chase to win over each galaxy, each planet, each species. It was only natural that along the way, they would approach the milky way.

The paladins had known all along that it could happen, but the very thought was unbearable to think about, so it was pushed aside.

In an attempt to force the paladins into surrender, the Galra were headed for Earth.

After they had been informed, the paladins nearly fell apart. Shiro had gone silent and cold, unable to provide words of wisdom to calm the rest of the team. Keith had started to drift, feeling unable to relate to the others and their fear of losing their families, ever the outsider. Pidge had finally been reunited with her brother and father, only to once again become faced with the fear of losing someone else. Lance and Hunk had nearly shut down, wasting away in their rooms.

Surprisingly enough, the one to kick the paladins back into gear had been Allura. While the others began to lose hope, Allura’s anger at the loss of her own planet had come back with a vengeance. These paladins, this group of young people forced into a role they were entirely unprepared to fill, had succeeded in nearly bringing about the end of the war that took her family, her home.

She was not about to let the same thing happen to her paladins.

Feeling recharged and more determined to win than ever, the paladins headed back for Earth, back towards the Garrison, back to where everything began.

The Galra had not yet arrived, choosing to hover just outside of the galaxy in an attempt to intimidate the paladins, yet also allowing them to slip in undetected.

They were going home.  
_

After eight years, finally the paladins were returning home for the first time. Back to Earth food and cell phones and internet and an entirely new world. Back to family.

The world had changed, and so had the paladins. Shiro looked like an actual adult, the beginnings of age beginning to show on his face. Lance’s face had filled out, leaving him looking handsome and mature. He made sure everybody knew it, too. Keith had finally ditched the mullet for what Lance called “an actual, decent haircut.” Pidge went the opposite route, letting her hair grow back out. Hunk had also let his hair grow, along with the beginnings of a beard.

And they were all ripped. Shredded.

Even in the midst of all the fear and tension that came with an entire fleet of aliens following you to your home planet, the paladins made time to go see their families first. Having disappeared without a trace, they were most likely declared dead, and it was about time they told their story.

Before they all went their separate ways, Allura had instructed that they be back in two days to prepare for the battle. They couldn’t stay long before the Galra realized they had slipped past, and now was not the time to get comfortable. Lance had seemed particularly forlorn at the news, but Hunk had placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and told him that after this, they could visit for as long as they liked.  
_

Even if the two day limit had not been placed, all of the paladins would have likely returned by then, if not earlier. The excitement and relief at being back on Earth could not fully settle while the threat of battle still loomed over their heads.

They did make time for one more stop, however.

After all, they would need some assistance in order to pull this off.  
_

To say that the assistant managing the desk at the entrance to Galaxy Garrison was _surprised_ to see five old students who had been declared dead years ago come strutting up to her desk would be an understatement. Rendered completely speechless, she could only gape as one of them sidled over, leaned an elbow across her desk, cocked an eyebrow and proclaimed, “Hello there, miss. Any chance you could get us a meeting with Iverson and the headmaster? We go way back.”

The staff of the Garrison was not pleased to be pulled into a sudden emergency meeting without any explanation. When they arrived, even the headmaster claimed not to know what the issue was, only that some mystery guest had arrived and demanded an immediate council. Whoever they were, it was apparently important enough to drag everyone away from their work.

Iverson entered the room to find most of the staff seated around a long metal conference table, the headmaster seated at the head. Iverson sat beside him with a humph. “This had better be important,” he growled, to which several other staff members nodded their assent.

Once everyone was assembled, a small young woman entered the room. “Your guests are ready to see you now,” she announced, before swiftly exiting the room, pale as a sheet. Before anyone could question her further, a metallic-looking arm reached around behind her retreating back to push the door open, and in walked five dead students.

Lance smirked from next to Shiro. “Hey there. Miss us?”

The others filed in, all of them donning matching armor, taking seats at the opposite end of the table from the headmaster. No one spoke.

Finally, the headmaster cleared his throat. “My apologies, but I think you can understand why I am confused. Where have you all been? Why are you here now? And...what are these suits that you’re wearing?”

Pidge slammed her hands down on the table. “It’s the aliens!”

Shiro sighed. “Pidge. Relax. We have a lot to explain.”

And so the five of them launched into a long tale of lions, robots, aliens, battles, quintessence, and all sorts of fantastical nonsense. Once they finished, the entire room silent, before Iverson let out a snort. After that, the room exploded into laughter, though the five old students sitting before them only sat in silence.

“Let’s be real here, now,” Iverson said with a chuckle. “We understand if you are upset with us for our apparently _misinterpretation_ of your disappearance, but this is ridiculous. Aliens? Giant robot lions? You have got to be kidding me. No wonder you all left this place. None of you would have lasted around here.”

Keith rolled his eyes and looked to Shiro, who maintained a calm poker face. “We understand your hesitance to believe us. I think maybe we could...help you understand, if you’ll let us.”

Iverson snorted. “Oh yeah? And how do you plan to do that?”

Shiro simply turned to his right to glance at Lance and Keith. Lance grinned before rearing back and arm and slapping Keith across the face as hard as he could. Still, they failed to say anything.

The headmaster sighed. “Alright, I think we’ve heard enough from you. If you could please-”

“Wait,” Shiro commanded, with enough authority in his tone to silence him. Moments later, a dull humming sound could be heard, slowly growing in volume and intensity, like a steadily approaching airplane.

The headmaster sat up in his chair, looking puzzled and slightly alarmed. “What-”

Before he could finish, the entire wall to his right completely caved in and was destroyed. Outside, a gigantic red robotic lion sat, a glowing laser building, ready to blast the whole room to ash.

“That’s the red lion,” Keith announced. “She, uh...doesn’t like when I’m in danger. Don’t worry! She won’t fire now that she can see I’m okay. Right, Red?”

The lion somehow seemed to understand him, as the laser died down and the robot stepping back to sit down. Some of the staff members approached the wrecked wall to look outside and take in the full view.

Shiro and the headmaster kept their eyes locked on one another from across the table. “There’s five of them. Black, red, blue, green, and yellow. They’re all giant lions, and they can combine to form an even bigger robot called Voltron. I know it sounds ridiculous. But we really have spent the past eight years in space, fighting the same aliens that captured me and the Holts on the Kerberos mission. While everyone here might be oblivious to it, this war has gone on for thousands of years, and planets all across the universe has been imprisoned under their tyranny.”

Hunk nodded. “They’re coming here next,” he added. “They found out where our home planet was, and they want to use it as a means of getting us to surrender the lions. And if we do that...it won’t be good for anyone. We’ve managed to free a lot of these planets that they controlled, but they won’t spare a single soldier on this if it means getting rid of us once and for all.”

The headmaster leaned forward and folded his hands together, elbows propped up against the table. He sighed, letting his eyes flutter closed and his chin dip downwards. “We knew about that.”

The paladins froze.

“You...what?” Keith asked.

“We were aware of them, initially,” the headmaster explained. “After the Kerberos mission. We received transmissions during the incident, and were able to deduce that whatever happened included...outside influence.”

Pidge slammed a fist against the table. “Are you serious?!”

The headmaster brought his hands down to the table with a slap, startling Pidge back. “You must understand why we did what we did. All we had was a mysterious transmission, with no knowledge of where Shirogane and the Holts were taken. And whatever it was could have posed a threat to the rest of us here on Earth, which, clearly, was a correct assumption to make. We acted for the safety of the Earth.”

Keith growled and leaned forward, but Lance placed a hand on his chest to hold him back. Keith spun to glare at him, but was met with a cool smile. “Calm down, Keith, I think he’s right.”

Pidge leaned forward to stare at him across the table. “You _do_?”

Lance nodded. “Well sure! Honestly, what could you expect them to do? Or _say_? That aliens are here? That they can promise everyone’s safety in the face of something so foreign?”

The headmaster leaned back with a sigh of relief and a small smile. While he had known Lance had not been one of his brightest students, he had been famous for his ability to sweet talk.

“The Garrison shouldn’t be expected to keep everyone safe from something like that. No, instead, _we_ did that. Five students with no experience or any idea that it was even out there.”

The headmaster stiffened.

“Well, that’s not exactly fair. After all, even _without_ those transmissions from Kerberos, we still managed to figure out that it was aliens! And we were able to help Shiro and go into space ourselves! Heck, if anyone here had really even _bothered_ to try and find more info, well, I bet they would’ve found the blue lion pretty quickly! Considering that Keith and Hunk could figure it out with a few radio signals and weird coordinates.”

“Now hold on-” the headmaster started, but was cut off again by Lance’s tirade.

“Really, sir, you are so brave and noble to hold this dark secret and protect the planet. Except, wait, I think actually, _we_ were the ones to do that! Because outside those walls? Out juuuust past the milky way? Why, that’s a giant fleet of alien ships, ready to come over here any day now and destroy every last one of you. Will your _brave silence_ save you then? Because it seems both sides here decided to do what they could to save the Earth. You sat here and did nothing, while we went out and spent years of our lives doing whatever we could to keep our home, and the rest of the universe, safe and free.”

Even Shiro seemed to grow uncomfortable at Lance’s speech. “Lance, please-”

“No, Shiro! We should _honor_ the contributions of our home planet. After all they’ve done for us? Quick question, mister headmaster, when you say you weren’t able to track what happened to the Kerberos members, how hard exactly did you try? I would hope you tried your best, seeing as he lost an arm and was forced into an alien fighting ring. Or Pidge and Keith! I’m sure they’re so _touched_ that you tried to protect them from the truth. You know, the one that they figured out anyways? I guess it was for the best, since we probably wouldn’t have found the blue lion in the first place if Iverson didn’t have a stick up his ass. Then it would have sat there, in that cave, like a big shiny magnet to attract anyone who wanted to just come snag it! We know you would’ve fought _real_ hard if they did come for it.”

“That’s enough!” the headmaster shouted, slamming a fist on the table. Lance, who had stood up and gone red in the face somewhere along the way, took a deep breath and fell back into his chair, allowing the tension building in the room to drain away.

“Just one more question, if I may,” Lance said cooly. “I apologize for my outburst, but I’m curious: what did you tell our families when the four of us disappeared? Did you look my mother in the face and tell her that I was a bad pilot? That my death was my own fault? Just like you did to Shiro? Or did you find a new lousy excuse?”

No one responded, and Lance leaned back with a small smile. “That’s what I thought. Thank you. I’m done now.”

Lance turned to the others with an inquisitive look, inviting any of them to add on. Hunk sighed but failed to disguise a small laugh. Pidge leaned over and gave him a grin and a thumbs up. Keith didn’t acknowledge him, but didn’t look too unhappy with the events unfolding. Shiro nodded awkwardly and turned back towards the staff members, who looked a bit terrified from Lance’s rant. He smiled stiffly. “Well, now that that’s out of the way...we need to discuss the plan for the attack against the Galra. Voltron will lead the offense, obviously, but-”

“Now hold on a moment,” Iverson interrupted. “Even if all this...alien nonsense may be true, I don’t buy for a second that the five of you are working as a team. You said it yourself, you’re just a group of amateurs who couldn’t stop arguing long enough to get anything done. Who are you saving? The missing pilot who disappeared on his first mission, the hothead who got himself expelled, the annoying little girl, the idiot cargo pilot, and the scared mechanic with motion sickness? I don’t buy it.”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “You think you could do better? I’d like to see you try.”

Iverson smirked. “All I’m saying is, a team made of you five couldn’t save a cat stuck in a tree. These two can’t stand each other,” he said, motioning to Lance and Keith. “Not to mention Kogane picks a fight with just about everyone he meets. The cargo pilot is just that...a cargo pilot, and a bad one at that. Shirogane over here looks...well, like he needs to be locked up. The little rebel girl is too nosy and mouthy to get anyone to listen to her, and this one over here couldn’t even get through a simulation without spilling his guts in the cockpit.”

Iverson crossed his arms with a smirk as the team fell silent, waiting for them to turn on each other in a frenzy. Instead, they all burst out laughing.

“It’s been eight years,” Hunk chuckled. “We really were a mess when we started out, huh?”

“Flying Blue was _such_ an upgrade,” Lance added. “Better than anything I ever flew in this place.”

“Please, we all know the red lion is the best for flying,” Keith countered. “Faster than your big bulky thing.”

“Shut up, mullet!”

“I haven’t had the mullet for years!”

“Yeah, I almost sort of miss it. It was kinda hot, babe.”

“You didn’t seem to think so when I actually had it.”

“Hey now, come on,” Shiro called. “We’re trying to have a meeting here.”

“Shiro, dude! Iverson says you need to be locked up?” Lance called. “You wanna fight him? I call being the ref!”

“We’re not fighting anyone that isn’t purple and fluffy, Lance.”

“Or an ugly robot,” Pidge added.

“Right,” Hunk agreed. “Only cute robots can stay, and they can be Pidge’s new pet.”

“Jealous?”

“No, I just don’t wanna always be the one to do repairs when you break them.”

“Better to have robots than anything alive! You had to make cow food for Kaltenecker for months before we offered him as a gift to those weird snail aliens.”

“Snaliens,” Hunk countered.

Pidge snorted and choked on a laugh before punching Hunk in the shoulder. “God, no, we agreed to never call them snaliens again.”

“Sorry, Pidge,” Lance chimed in, “but you know Hunk gets the final say on...well’ pretty much everything. Snaliens for life.”

Shiro chuckled before turning back to Iverson, a challenging smirk on his face. “Well, now, I think both of us are starting to realize how much can change in eight years.”

Keith snickered. “Or how much they can stay the same.”

“Yeah,” Pidge agreed, “is that enough ‘proof’ that we actually know what we’re talking about here? Or do you want us to get Allura down here, Iverson? She’s a badass space warrior princess and she can shapeshift into you and then punch you with your own fist, if you still need some convincing.”

Iverson sputtered before closing his mouth and looking away.

“Now,” Shiro announced, drawing the conversation back on track. “Let’s get to the reason why we came here. Voltron can lead the attack against the main problems up there, but there’s gonna be a lot of fleets of backup trying to slow us down. We have some nearby allies ready to help us out and portal us away if things go seriously wrong, but we’re relying on you here. You have the technology to help us out here, and to keep things safe on the surface. So we need to know, headmaster: will you help us?”

The room fell into a tense silence as the headmaster leaned down to place his head in his hands in contemplation. Finally, after an agonizing few minutes, he looked back up with a serious look on his face.

“No.”

Shiro froze. “What?”

The headmaster nodded. “I will not risk the lives of my students like that. We cannot help you.”

“I urge you to reconsider, sir. This will be dangerous either way, and-”

“My word is final. I wish you all the best of luck, but I cannot agree to something like that. Please see yourselves out.”

Pidge let out a low whistle. “Well, that’s about what I was expecting. If you want something done you gotta do it yourself, right?”

Keith jumped up suddenly, leading half of the room to flinch back. He smirked and nodded. “Pleasure doing business with you,” he said before turning and walking towards to door. Hunk and Pidge followed, Hunk pausing to get Shiro up and out, since he seemed to be the only one surprised at how everything played out.

“You get used to it, buddy,” he said, patting Shiro on the back as they headed for the exit. Lance was the last to leave, pausing just before exiting.

“Hey Iverson? Get bent.” He broke out into hysterical laughter. “Damn, Keith, that does feel good! Getting expelled was definitely worth that.”

“Told you,” Keith agreed. 

“ _That’s_ what you got expelled over?” Shiro asked in exasperation.

The door closed behind them, muffling the rest of their conversation, and they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooooo boy close to the end now! This part was probably the most fun to write, because it's just thousands of words spent entirely on roasting the Garrison to hell.
> 
> Will I ever edit this? Hopefully someday, but I spent so long writing this that that day is not today. Sorry about that one, hopefully everything makes sense ;;
> 
> Don't have much to say here since the last part is getting posted right after this, but like always, you should go [check out my tumblr](https://zurela.tumblr.com/) for more nonsense and stuff I'm working on!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even without the help of the Garrison staff, it's time to kick some ass.

THE RETURN OF THE (NO LONGER A) CONSPIRACY SQUAD

SHIRO- THE CELEBRITY  
 _Strengths: An iconic member of the Garrison even after all this time, easily gets people ready to join the cause as an excuse to work with him  
Weaknesses: Easily gets people to realize how horrifying the Galra are via white hair, facial scar, and alien robot arm_

PIDGE- THE RELATABLE NERD  
 _Strengths: Won’t stop talking about how cool alien robot lions are, builds immense excitement  
Weaknesses: Tries to fight anyone who turns them down_

HUNK- THE GOOD COP  
 _Strengths: Still a ray of absolute sunshine, immediately befriends everyone and helps them work past their doubts  
Weaknesses: Can’t stand to lie to people. Tells them exactly what they’re up against, therefore creating more doubts_

KEITH- THE BAD COP  
 _Strengths: The most intimidating person to ever walk these halls, scares the snobby kids into helping  
Weaknesses: Keith! Put the knife away!_

LANCE- THE SMOOTH TALKER  
 _Strengths: Convinces people to fight in order to protect their families and planet, or just to rub it in Iverson’s face  
Weaknesses: Talks about how crashing and explosions can be fun, really, the most exhilarating part is when you’re being shot at, don’t you think? Hey wait, where are you going? You’ll get used to it, promise!_  
_

Surprisingly enough, they manage to convince a great number of Garrison students to help them. Everyone seems to think they’re insane at first, but, well, when five former students, all presumed to be dead, show up one day in futuristic armor with giant robotic lions outside, there’s not many viable explanations.

After they suspend their disbelief, most of them became pretty excited, considering they had all devoted their lives to exploring space. If the threat to their home and families wasn’t convincing enough, the prospect at seeing aliens certainly was.

The next issue comes with breaking past the Garrison’s security measures to steal ships for the battle. After eight years of hacking alien technology, though, Pidge easily breaks past simple human protection. While most of the team looked completely content to be sneaking around the building and stealing everything in sight, Shiro seemed a bit hesitant.

“Aren’t we going to get caught?” he asked while Pidge tapped away at a password-restricted door. “They could have the authorities stop us.”

“Nah,” Lance argued, “they don’t have the guts. Besides, we won’t get caught.”

“How do you know?”

“We did this every day for months while you were gone,” Pidge comments. “It’s second nature by now.”

“You did _this_ every day? And only one of you got expelled? I’m actually impressed.”

Hunk grinned. “Did what we had to do to find you, buddy!”

Shiro paused. “What do you mean?” In all of the excitement in finding Shiro and the blue lion all those years ago, he had never heard the story of their time at the Garrison while he was gone. “I thought you got expelled because you yelled at Iverson?”

Keith scoffed. “Yeah, he was saying some pretty awful things about you. Considering how no one would tell us what happened during Kerberos, and that we had been breaking into their computers for months looking for answers, I wasn’t in the mood to hear it.”

Lance nodded. “Kind of put a dent in our plans with one member of the team gone, but having Keith as an outside ear had its perks. Besides, the real MVPs were Pidge and Hunk. We couldn’t have gotten anywhere without them.”

“Oh, please,” Pidge remarked with a roll of her eyes, not turning away from the task in front of her. “We would have gotten busted for that immediately without you around to get Iverson off our backs. Honestly, I’m surprised it wasn’t _you_ who got expelled for telling him off.”

Lance smirked. “What can I say? I’m the coolest guy to ever walk these halls.”

“I don’t understand,” Shiro said. “You were all trying to find me the whole time I was gone?”

Keith gave him a pointed look. “Of course we were. They told us it was pilot error that caused the incident, and I know you better than that. The four of us were a team long before Voltron. I’m sorry we couldn’t find you, though.”

Shiro chuckled. “I...I can’t-”

“Got it,” Pidge interjected. “We have access to the entire hangar now. You guys ready to do this?”

Shiro examined his team, all of them looking to him for his call. “Yeah. Let’s end this.”  
_

The battle was fierce and difficult, made all the more challenging in the attempts to keep the Galra as far from Earth as possible. While they managed to steal most of the ships from the Garrison, that didn’t change the fact that they weren’t equipped for combat. The resulting conflict centered around the students at the Garrison engaging nearby Galra fleets in a game of cat and mouse while Voltron headed for the main ship to get the job done.

The students watch in awe at the finesse the members of Voltron fly with, the way they all seem to coordinate as one being. Everyone hopes, back on the surface, that the staff is watching from the windows of their cushy offices, marveling in the talent their students, current and old, display without their interference.

With the aid of Garrison students, allies from other planets, and a new spirit within the paladins that came with the return to Earth and the fierce protectiveness for their home planet, the team somehow overpowers the Galra ships and sends them fleeing back into the depths of space. It’s not the end of the war, not yet, but the Galra knows better than to come back to Earth for a long while.  
_

“Thank you all,” Shiro declares once everyone makes it back to the surface. “It is because of all of you that we were able to do this today, and I am so glad to have you represent our planet. This war still has a long way to go, but this was an important day, and I know soon we will defeat the Galra once and for all.”

Lance jumps up beside him. “If anyone is looking for a new career as a space warrior, you’re all invited to come on board our castle spaceship! Because that kicked _ass_.”

“Lance,” Shiro reprimands, and Lance scrambles back off to the side with a wicked grin spread across his face. Shiro sighs.

“I want to say to all of you, and to the entire staff of the Garrison: we are _not_ gone. We did not die in a tragic crash, we were not delinquents or incompetent pilots. Once this war ends, we will be back, and the world will know what we are capable of. You can be _sure_ of that.”

The rest of the paladins let out whoops and hollers, running over to Shiro to pat him on the back. The staff members of the Garrison hide inside their offices, doing everything in their power to hide from their mistakes. Their students will never let them forget, though.  
_

_Six years later._  
_

The war against the Galra is over, and the universe has been liberated. Voltron is separated and kept locked away, a symbol of power that is too great for anyone to wield.

Shiro chooses to stay in space with Allura and Coran. They form a coalition to help maintain peace across the universe, working with representatives from all sorts of species to make sure no one like the Galra can surface again.

Hunk returns to the Balmera with Shay. He helps them rebuild their society, and, later, travels across the universe to help all the planets who were taken advantage of by the Galra.

Pidge returns to Earth, bringing along her family, as well as a whole host of alien technology. She becomes one of the leading scientists on the planet, bringing in an era of technological development never seen before.

Keith becomes determined to uncover any evidence of previous alien contact with the Earth, or other supernatural or “impossible” discoveries. He dreams of one day meeting mothman.

Lance becomes the new headmaster of Galaxy Garrison. Thanks to the aid of Pidge and the alien technology that comes to Earth, he fosters in a new age of space explorers who are able to travel and research more than ever before, as well as keep the planet safe from any future threats. Iverson works there as a custodian.

Spread across the world, and the universe, they don’t see each other often. Thanks to Altean technology, they are able to develop ships with warp capabilities, but are still busy with their own lives and responsibilities. However, once a year, they all meet together on Earth, at the Garrison, and spend the day telling stories and flying together, reliving the memories of the events that changed them all for life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear lord this story got long! And pretty far off from my original plans, but what can you do? The ending is pretty short, I know, but this story was more about everything that came before the show, so I didn't get as into detail on this part!
> 
> Now I can finally put this weird, self-satisfying story to rest and start on something new. I've got a new idea I'm getting ready to start, so keep an eye out for that? I'm pretty excited about it!
> 
> If you wanna know when to start expecting that, or to tell me how ridiculous this story is, you can always [go to my tumblr](https://zurela.tumblr.com/) and see what sort of nonsense is occupying my life at the moment. Thanks for reading, my dears!


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